There are many situations where it is necessary to clean the interior of hoses and/or tubing. Such cleaning chores often present great challenges due to the inaccessability of the interior spaces of tubes and hoses. These spaces are not only difficult to access but the tubes or hoses may present particular challenges such as recalcitrant debris and/or the delicate nature of the hose or tube. Also, bends or turns in tubes or hoses also make cleaning difficult. One example of hoses that are hard to clean is vacuum cleaner hoses.
Vacuum cleaners are widely used in industrial, commercial, residential, and other indoor environments to remove dust, dirt, debris, and other particles from floors and floor coverings, window treatments, furniture, sculptures and other decorative items, plants, and other articles. In some instances, vacuum cleaners are also used in outdoor applications.
Most vacuum cleaners are machines that operate by creating an air suction force that is strong enough to lift dust, dirt, and other small particles from the articles to be cleaned. The particles are usually directed into the vacuum cleaner through a cleaning head that increases the cleaning contact area. Additionally, some machines have brushes that help sweep the particles into the vacuum cleaner. After being drawn through the cleaning head, the particles are directed into a collection bag or similar receptacle. The collection bag is periodically emptied or replaced.
There are many different versions of vacuum cleaners. Common vacuum cleaner designs include hand-held, upright, and canister models. Hand-held and upright models often incorporate all the elements of the cleaner into a single unit. In contrast, canister models usually house a motor and collection bag in a rolling unit attached by a flexible hose to a cleaning head. Many upright models, in addition to having a floor-level cleaning head, also have a flexible hose that can be fitted with supplementary cleaning tools, thereby expanding the cleaning capabilities of the vacuum cleaner. Also, hand-held models frequently have a short tube through which dirt and dust are directed into a collection bag.
The tube or flexible hose attached to many vacuum cleaners comes in a variety of lengths and configurations. For example, it may be rigid and fairly short, as in a hand-held vacuum. Or it may be flexible and relatively long, allowing the user to position the head into corners, behind furniture, along ceilings, and other difficult-to-reach locations.
For optimal cleaning performance and vacuum cleaner longevity, the air suction supplied by the vacuum cleaner motor must not be blocked at any point along the path from the motor to the cleaning head of the vacuum cleaner, which contacts the surface to be cleaned. While vacuum cleaner users generally realize the importance of emptying or replacing the vacuum cleaners' dust collection bags regularly to maintain peak performance, many do not realize that another region of potential air flow blockage is often overlooked: the vacuum cleaner hose. Removing accumulated particulate matter from the inside surface of the hose allows the vacuum cleaner to sustain its suction force without placing additional stress on the motor. Thus, hose cleaning serves to maintain a vacuum cleaner's efficiency and prolong its life by reducing demands on its motor.
In addition to the failure of most people to recognize the importance of a clean vacuum cleaner hose, the vacuum cleaner hose is very difficult to effectively clean even if one desired to do so. The subject invention provides a simple tool for effective vacuum cleaner hose cleaning.